SENATE SPIRALS TOWARD ‘NUCLEAR OPTION,’ REID SAYS HE ‘ATE SH—‘ ON BUSH NOMINEES – Manu Raju, John Bresnahan and Burgess Everett report for the hometown Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s threat to change filibuster rules is supposed to narrowly focus on presidential nominees to the executive branch. But his potential move to invoke the ‘nuclear option’ is raising a bigger and more sweeping question that could have huge consequences for future presidents of both parties: Is this the beginning of the end of the filibuster? If the filibuster goes, the Senate would lose a crucial check on majority rights — and it could start looking very much like the House, where the majority always gets its way. …

-- “On Monday, Reid informed President Barack Obama about his intention to use the nuclear option if no deal is struck, sources said, and Obama signaled he would support the effort. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who is trying to head off the high-stakes fight, privately reached out to Vice President Joe Biden, but it’s expected that Biden would vote with Democrats in case there’s a 50-50 tie. The crisis could still be averted. Reid signaled that he would drop the threat of the nuclear option if Republicans ended their filibusters on pending Obama nominees ….

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-- “In a closed-door caucus meeting Thursday, Reid began by apologizing to his colleagues for cutting bipartisan deals to avert the nuclear option, including at the beginning of this year. And the Nevada Democrat complained that he allowed votes on scores of conservative nominees under former President George W. Bush after a bipartisan coalition headed off the nuclear option in 2005. But Reid said it had been the right thing to do because Bush had won a second term in the White House. Now, Reid argued, times have changed. ‘I ate sh— on some of those nominees,’ Reid told his colleagues, according to sources who were present.” http://politi.co/10QJu6T

EX-REP. FILNER APOLOGIZES FOR BAD BEHAVIOR WITH WOMEN; ‘I NEED HELP’ – The L.A. Times’ Tony Perry reports: “Facing calls for his resignation amid sex harassment claims, San Diego Mayor Bob Filner issued an apology Thursday for his treatment of women and vowed to change his behavior, admitting ‘I need help.’ Filner indicated he will not resign but that ‘I have reached into my heart and soul and realize I must and will change my behavior.’ He said he and his staff will take the sexual harassment training offered by the city. On a DVD given to the media, Filner said, ‘As someone who has spent a lifetime fighting for equality for all people, I am embarrassed to admit that I have failed to fully respect the women who work for me and with me, and that at times I have intimidated them.’ … Filner's admission came just hours after an emotionally charged news conference in which three longtime friends and supporters called on him to resign for what one called ‘truly reprehensible’ behavior toward women.” http://lat.ms/1axME5YWatch here:http://bit.ly/18aQZaW

**Traveling through 7 states in 7 days on the Rights and Responsibilities Tour, Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly met gun owners and non-gun owners who support common sense policies to reduce gun violence, like expanded background checks. Hear their stories at www.rightsandresponsibilitiestour.com.

TRANSITIONS: ROHRABACHER SPOX HEADS TO TV -- In August, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s communications director of seven years, Tara Setmayer, will join Will Cain, Buck Sexton and Amy Holmes, on TheBlaze’s “Real News” show, which is broadcast every weekday night from network’s midtown Manhattan studios. Setmayer replaces S.E. Cupp, who is moving to Washington to co-host CNN’s “Crossfire.” As a media commentator, Setmayer has appeared on CNN, Fox News, ABC, HBO and PBS. And she has guest-hosted Glenn Beck’s show on TheBlaze. Her last day on the Hill is Aug. 2.

-- ANDREW OLMEM, who served as Republican chief counsel and deputy staff director for the Senate Banking Committee, has joined law firm Venable as a partner in the firm’s Financial Services and Legislative Practice Groups. Olmem served with the Banking Committee for more than seven years and was lead Senate staff negotiator during the passage of Dodd-Frank. His tenure at the Banking Committee also put him at the center of key legislation coming out of the financial crisis, including the Housing and Economic Recovery Act and the TARP Act. Most recently, he worked on passage of the JOBS Act, the Biggert-Waters Floor Insurance Reform Act, and the Iran Threat Reduction and Syrian Human Rights Act. Before Capitol Hill, Olmem was a corporate and securities attorney for Mayer Brown in New York and at Shaw Pittman in Northern Virginia.

HOUSE PASSES FARM BILL WITHOUT FOOD STAMPS, CONFERENCE WITH SENATE BILL UP NEXT – David Rogers writes for POLITICO: “The House narrowly passed a pared-back farm bill Thursday after Republican leaders stripped out the nutrition title — affecting food stamps and local food banks — to win back conservative votes. The 216-208 roll call avoids a repeat of last month’s embarrassing collapse and for the first time in a year will allow House-Senate talks on a final farm package. All but 12 Republicans supported the measure — in contrast with the 62 defections in June. And it was a badly needed, face-saving win for Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), whose tactics contributed to last month’s loss and who had bet heavily on the new approach to recover. Nonetheless, the decision to jettison the nutrition title breaks with nearly a half-century of precedent. …

-- “All 196 Democrats voted in opposition, and there was a genuine fury displayed by members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who repeatedly delayed the emotional floor proceedings. The intense partisanship and often tone-deaf management of the past month have fed into doubts in Cantor’s own party over his temperament as a would-be speaker.

‘Farm bills have been bipartisan for generations, and we made it a mess,’ said one senior Republican. In the process, the GOP gave up precious leverage to enact nutrition reforms in talks with the Senate. And dozens of fiscal conservatives, who complained about the high cost of the farm bill last month, were pressured to switch their votes when the only change was removing food aid for the poor.” http://politi.co/12lr9wj

GOOD FRIDAY MORNING, July 12, 2013, and welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play preview of the day’s congressional news. Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to swong@politico.com. If you don't already, please follow me on Twitter @scottwongDC.

My new followers include @JPachonDC and @NicholasMiknev.

TODAY IN CONGRESS – Both the House and Senate are out today.

AROUND THE HILL – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid meet with Wang Yang, Chinese vice premier and co-chair of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, at 10 a.m. in S-219.

GOODLATTE NOW OPEN TO ‘PATH TO CITIZENSHIP,’ WORKING WITH CANTOR ON GOP DREAM ACT – Alan Gomez reports for USA Today: “Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., has long said that the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants should never get a ‘special’ pathway to citizenship. Now, for the first time, he is saying they could get some path. Goodlatte, who holds considerable influence over the immigration debate as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said during an interview taped Thursday for C-SPAN's Newsmakers that he could see a plan in which adult undocumented immigrants are given a temporary legal status and could later apply for green cards and U.S. citizenship. …

-- “Goodlatte is also embracing an idea to provide a quicker path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children, known as DREAMers after a failed bill in Congress, known as the DREAM Act, that was designed to help them. He is working with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., on a bill aimed at that population, and said his committee will hold a hearing on it before the end of the month. The interview will air Sunday on C-SPAN and 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.” http://usat.ly/15AsCTI

-- THE GOODLATTE-CANTOR BILL for immigrant children is part of the GOP’s piecemeal approach to reform, POLITICO’s Seung Min Kim reports. http://politi.co/12lrAqv

-- FORMER TEACHER TAKANO FLUNKS GOP FOR IMMIGRATION LETTER – Evan McMorris-Santoro writes for BuzzFeed: “When Democratic Rep. Mark Takano got his hands on a draft letter to Speaker John Boehner from conservatives on immigration, he did what any pro-reform member of Congress who was a high school literature teacher for two decades would: took out his red pen and marked up the draft. Unsurprisingly, he gave the Republican letter an ‘F.’ ‘If you don’t understand the bill come by my office and I’ll explain it,’ he wrote at the bottom in his best teacherese. The letter, which is being circulated by Louisiana Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy and is addressed to Boehner, is a rebuke of the Senate’s comprehensive immigration reform bill. … Takano’s office says the marked-up version of the letter, which staff posted to both Takano’s Facebook and Tumblr pages, has been a hit. After about two hours on Facebook, the letter had already been shared more than 1,000 times.” http://bit.ly/11IqLgp Read the letter here: http://bit.ly/13Fdp5P

SENATORS REACH TENTATIVE DEAL ON STUDEN LOAN RATES – Jenna Johnson reports for WaPo: “A bipartisan group of senators reached a tentative agreement on Thursday to change the way the federal government sets interest rates for its education loans. The negotiations followed a failed procedural vote on another student loan bill on Wednesday. The bipartisan group proposes to set the rates based on the market, instead of having a fixed rate for years on end, and to impose a cap to prevent those rates from going too high, according to two aides with knowledge of the negotiations. Under this agreement, rates for all federal loans for undergraduate students would be tied to the variable rates of the 10-year Treasury bond, plus 1.8 percentage points, according to the aides. … All of these numbers are tentative and could likely change when senators receive an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office, which is expected on Thursday, according to four aides with knowledge of the negotiations. A deal has not yet been finalized, but if it is, a vote could come next week.” http://wapo.st/157CEcC

Wall Street Journal, A1 4-col lead, “Stocks Surge to Fresh Highs: Skittish Investors Gain Courage From Fed Chief’s Reassurance on Easy-Money Policy,” By Chris Dieterich: “A burst of investor optimism pushed U.S. stock indexes into record territory for the first time since late May, fueled by fresh reassurances that the Federal Reserve would continue to pour cheap money into financial markets. Thursday's rally began during Asian trading hours before spreading to Europe and North America. Gains were sparked by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments late Wednesday that the Fed's easy-money policies are in place for the long haul. Those remarks helped soothe investor concerns about the potential impact of any steps the Fed might take to pull back on its extraordinary efforts to support the U.S. economy. In the past two months, fears that the U.S. central bank would retreat from its policies have sent bond yields broadly higher, pushing up mortgage rates.” http://on.wsj.com/16xjMD2

BALMY HAWAII HOME TO HOT DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY – Emily Shultheis reports for POLITICO: “With a single act of defiance — ignoring the dying wishes of the legendary Sen. Daniel Inouye and tapping his own guy for a rare Senate appointment — Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie triggered one of the most intriguing and hotly contested primary battles of 2014. The sunny, laid-back Aloha State may seem an unlikely place for intraparty Democratic combat. But chances like this don’t come along often in Hawaii: Inouye was first elected to the Senate in 1962, and former Sen. Daniel Akaka occupied the state’s other seat for 22 years until January. So Brian Schatz, Abercrombie’s former lieutenant governor who landed a temporary appointment to the Senate barely six months ago, and two-term Rep. Colleen Hanabusa are seizing the opportunity. The winner is all but guaranteed the seat given Hawaii’s heavy Democratic tilt.” http://politi.co/16xd93J

LUCRATIVE SPEECHES FILL HILLARY’S DAYS BEFORE 2016 DECISION –Both the New York Times and Washington Post front stories today on Clinton’s pivot to “buckraking” as she weighs a presidential run: Amy Chozick writes for the NYT: “Just a few months after leaving the State Department, Hillary Rodham Clinton has plunged into the lucrative world of paid speechmaking, joining a branch of the family business that has brought the Clintons more than $100 million since her husband left the White House in 2001. For about $200,000, Mrs. Clinton will offer pithy reflections and Mitch Albom-style lessons from her time as the nation’s top diplomat. (‘Leadership is a team sport.’ ‘You can’t win if you don’t show up.’ ‘A whisper can be louder than a shout.’) She sticks around for handshakes and picture-taking, but the cost of travel, and whether a private jet is provided, must be negotiated as part of her fee.

-- “The $200,000 she commands appears to be comparable to what Bill Clinton receives for speeches delivered in this country, though Mr. Clinton — who earned $17 million from speeches last year — has collected much more outside the United States, including the $700,000 he was paid when he spoke to a company in Lagos, Nigeria. Convention organizers are eager to pay Mrs. Clinton, and, since leaving office in February, she has embarked on a packed schedule of events for groups like the American Society of Travel Agents and the National Association of Realtors.

-- “But joining what is known in Washington as the buckraking circuit carries risks for Mrs. Clinton, who prides herself on a long career in public office and could be diminished by the free-flowing money as she considers a run for president in 2016. The senators who may face off against her in three years are barred from taking such honorariums. Past presidential candidates, including former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, have drawn scrutiny for the practice; Mr. Huckabee memorably left the presidential campaign trail in 2008 to deliver an address in the Cayman Islands. ‘I’m not independently wealthy,’ Mr. Huckabee said at the time. ‘I wish I was. I have to make a living.’” http://nyti.ms/10QLZWIWaPo:http://wapo.st/11Il7ec

THURSDAY’S TRIVIA WINNER – Turney Hall, who works for the New Jersey Office of Administrative Law, was first to correctly answer that the three U.S. “presidents” who once called Missouri home were Harry Truman, Ulysses S. Grant and David Rice Atchison, who some claimed served one day as acting president by virtue of being Senate president pro tem when Zachary Taylor refused to be sworn in on a Sunday.

TODAY’S TRIVIA – Turney Hall offers today’s question: Which corporation has run a beverage-themed promotion that has accurately predicted the past four U.S. presidential elections? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day’s Huddle. Email me at swong@politico.com.

GET HUDDLE emailed to your Blackberry, iPhone or other mobile device each morning. Just enter your email address where it says “Sign Up.” http://www.politico.com/huddle/

** On our six-month anniversary this week, Americans for Responsible Solutions was proud to announce we’ve added 500,000 members. Our members know that responsible gun ownership is part of what makes us Americans, but recent tragedies show America is not doing enough to keep its citizens safe. We know that doing nothing while others are in danger is not the American way. We're mobilizing support to push the U.S. Senate to take another vote on expanded background check legislation, and in every stop of the 7-day, 7-state Rights and Responsibilities Tour, citizens told us they wanted action to keep weapons out of the hands of criminals and the dangerously mentally ill. From Nevada, Alaska, North Dakota, Ohio, New Hampshire, Maine and North Carolina, hear the voices of the Americans who are standing with Gabby Giffords, Mark Kelly and Americans for Responsible Solutions at www.rightsandresponsibilitiestour.com **

** A message from the Stop The HIT Coalition: The Health Insurance Tax (HIT) drives up health care costs for small businesses, seniors, state Medicaid programs and middle-income Americans. The HIT is estimated to cost hardworking American families an additional $5,000 over a decade. And since the cost and consequences of the HIT increase over time, America’s small businesses and hardworking families are facing a bigger HIT every year. This translates to real jobs for businesses and real wages for families. That’s why the Stop The HIT Coalition – representing the nation’s small business owners and their employees – is working hard to repeal the HIT before it causes even more damage. Congress, please stop the HIT. Once and for all. http://bit.ly/1iE6tfW **

Authors:

About The Author

Scott Wong covers transportation for POLITICO Pro, and authors The Huddle, POLITICO’s popular morning tipsheet on Congress. He was a congressional reporter with the publication from 2010 to 2012.

He reported from Tucson, Ariz., after the deadly shooting rampage that severely injured Rep. Gabby Giffords and helped break a story about Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill’s private plane that led to her admission she owed more than $300,000 in state property taxes.

He got his professional start in journalism covering local government for two small newspapers in his native San Francisco Bay Area. He later became a staff writer for The Arizona Republic, where he covered the Arizona statehouse and Phoenix City Hall.

After graduating from UCLA, he spent a year teaching English in a rural mountain village in Japan. He is a member of the Asian American Journalists Association, and lives with his wife and daughter in Washington.